The Heist
by MoWrites
Summary: Four women band together in a life of crime when their backs are against the wall and all the chips/hopes are down. What happens when guilt eats away, and close friends become snitches, while other's money hungry in this Set It Off remake.
1. The Heist: Prologue

The group of four sat around the rented motel room counting their stacks of money in silence. The only sounds resonating around the cramped space were the _swoosh, swoosh, swoosh_ of air passing through paper as it hit surface and the rickety air conditioner that sat in the motel window. The room was dark with leaks of light pouring through the tattered curtains and the tension in the room was rising slowly before finally Chasity broke the silence.

"I can't believe we did that," she gasped out as she finished counting the four stacks of money sitting before her on the small round table in the corner.

At the sound of her voice three heads shot up and Santana cursed. "Fuck I lost my count," she mumbled much to everyone else's amusement.

"We did it," Mercedes said looking at her cousin, Chasity. "We did it for PJ."

Licking her lips, Veronica ran her fingers through her hair as she nodded, her jaw clenched slightly. "Yeah for PJ… but we still don't have enough," she told them knowingly. The amount they stole wasn't even an appleseed in measurement to PJ's accumulating medical bills. "I count three thousand… that alone leaves us needing 47 thousand and we're all getting a damn cut of the money…" she said shaking her head. Santana glared over at Veronica stacking up her money. "Then we go get more. Shit we did it once… we can do it again," Santana said to them looking around the room. "Nothing is stopping us."

Chasity sat at the table gnawing on her lip as she thought about her son, dropping her head into her hands and scrubbing her face. "I love my baby so much… but I don't know… what've already done is bad enough. You know how people get caught? They get greedy. They try their luck over and over again," she said as she lifted her head. Mercedes stood up and walked over to Chasity, kneeling before her. Grabbing Chasity by the back of her neck, Mercedes rested their foreheads together.

"Listen to me," Mercedes said to Chasity. "I have to do this, okay." Searching Chasity's eyes, Mercedes continued. "We will not get caught okay. We're going to be smart about this. You have my word… but we have to keep going. This isn't for us… this is for your little boy. PJ doesn't deserve to die at five," she said to her cousin and Chasity closed her eyes, nodding slowly as she rested her hand on Mercedes' arm.

"For PJ," Chasity breathed out before there was a knock on the door and everyone jumped, whipping their head towards the door.

For a moment time stood still. The laws of motions were invalid and every ounce of oxygen was sucked out the air as four pairs of eyes burned holes through the door. Then suddenly they were scrambling like rats, hiding the money and rustling around the room trying to stay as calm and as quiet as possible.

Shoving the green under the mattress and into bags, even their cleavage, the women were frantic before finally Veronica moved to the door, looking around at everyone making sure the coast was clear before she opened it, slowly, poking her head out. "How may I help you?" she asked.

Samuel stood at the door, hands shoved into his bank security pants pocket as he gazed at the brown skinned woman. "I'm looking for 'Cedes…" the blonde breathed out and Veronica's breath hitched, her voice cracking. "Just a second," she said before she pulled her head back into the door and slammed the door, turning to the other woman. ""Cedes… there's a tall blonde bank security guard looking for you," she said her voice and hands shaking. Mercedes eyes went wide and she swallowed hard before it hit her. "Samuel…" she said quickly as she rushed to explain. "Oh!" she explained looking around at them. "He's going to help us… he rotates with the banks… he has insight… and he's willing…" she said to them.

Santana stood up. "Oh uh-uh! What the fuck are you thinking Mercedes? How do you know he's not going to rat us out?" she asked looking around at everyone with her hands thrown into the air. "Do you see any fucking police cars outside?" she asked the Latina with a grunt back. "If we're going to keep at this shit… we need help!" she said looking around at them. "He is our best bet at getting around the system… so we can take a damn chance… and trust him… or… we can risk getting caught," she said to them all.

There it was again. Dead silence as everyone weight out the options and Chasity stood up, speaking first. "If he's willing to help… I'm willing to trust him… this is for my baby…" she said looking at Santana and Veronica. "We have to try," she said with pleading eyes.

Squinting, Santana looked over at Veronica who was staring at Mercedes. "Fine…" Santana said dropping her hands, flipping her jet black locks over her shoulder. Veronica stood silently for a moment before finally she nodded. "I swear to God… if he rats us out… I'm going to jail for robbery and murder," she breathed.

Chasity licked her lips as she walked over to the window, peaking out the curtains. "Oh him…" she mumbled before she looked back around the room. "He won't rat us out… he has a thing for Mercedes," she informed and Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Can we just let the damn man inside!" she stressed.

Turning around, Veronica slowly opened the door back up, eyeing the blonde up and down. "Hurry up," she snarled at him and Samuel eyed her for a moment before he stepped into the dark motel room with the four women. "Let's get to work…" he said pulling a map out his pocket of the next bank location, walking over to the table and spreading it out.


	2. The Heist: Chp 1

The Heist: Chapter One

Mercedes stretched her short brown body slightly as she slowly rolled over in the warm bed. Peering out the corner of her eyes she sighed deeply seeing the flashing lights shining brightly through her rundown New York City apartment window. She licked her full brown lips, stretching a little bit more, letting out a soft groan as she turned her brown eyes to the clock on her nightstand. 1:30 AM. Running her hands through her messy bed hair, she lazily slid out of the bed, dragging her feet tiredly, carrying herself to her bathroom.

Mid-way there her phone began to buzz on the nightstand and she turned back around, furrowing her eyebrows slightly, wondering who in the world would be calling her at such an ungodly hour, as she moved to pick it up. Reading the caller ID, Mercedes let out a soft sigh – it was her younger cousin, Chasity. "Hello?" She answered the phone, speaking softly, as she sat back down on her bed.

"M-M-Mercedes." Chasity breathed out harshly. "I need y-you. I-I need your h-help." Chasity cried on the phone. Mercedes froze slightly, every muscle in her body stiffening at the urgency and panic in her cousin's voice.

"What's wrong?" Mercedes asked quickly. Her instincts had instantly set her into motion and she jumped up, rushing to grab a pair of jeans. Somehow she managed to balance the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she wiggled the jeans onto her body, snatching the denim material up her thighs until she was buttoning them up. Yanking a t-shirt down from the closet she stayed silent, listening to any indication from Chasity that everything was okay, waiting for a sign that said she didn't have to panic herself

"I-It's PJ. 'Cedes… I-I d-don't know what h-happened. His b-babysitter doesn't k-know either. I don't k-know." Chasity stammered out and Mercedes licked her lips, throwing on a pair of sneakers.

"Calm down. Okay. Where are you? I am coming to you okay." Mercedes told the younger girl swiftly.

Chasity nodded her head on the other end of the phone as she paced hospital floors. Just being there sent a shiver down her spine. She was still trying to wrap her brain around how one second her son, her beautiful baby boy, could be so lively – a perfect little five year old, bouncing around and playing – to being a sick toddler who was barely clinging onto life the next.

"Mount Sinai hospital." Chasity rushed out as she tried to calm down like Mercedes instructed her to do. "H-hurry. 'Cedes I-I d-don't understand." She hiccupped, trying to take deep breathes.

Mercedes nodding slowly as she snatched up her purse, barely checking to make sure she had everything inside of it, before she grabbed up her keys off her island in her kitchen. She rushed out the apartment, stopping for just a moment to lock the door it behind her.

"J-just give me thirty seconds Chaz… Where is Puck Sr.?" Mercedes asked rolling her eyes slightly at the simple thought of him. She jogged down the two flights of steps, taking them two at a time until she was rushing towards her car, mindful of her un-tied shoe laces. Her eyes scanned around the dark parking lot, checking to make sure no one was around her for a moment, still very mindful of the neighborhood she was in, even in her state of panic, before she unlocked her Toyota climbing in and tossing her purse into the passenger seat.

"He's o-on his way." Chasity said.

Chasity sat in the waiting room of the cold hospital building, her leg bouncing up and down slightly, her eyes watching the clock, counting the seconds. Licking her full lips slowly, she rubbed her arms gently – goosebumps had risen hours ago and refused to leave because of the pure nervousness and anxiety she was feeling.

"Chasity?" Noah said suddenly as he jogged towards her.

Chasity whipped her head up, looking over to see Noah and she jumped up, running towards him until she was able to wrap her short arms around his tall, slender frame holding him tight. "I-I don't k-know what's g-going on." She told him, burying her face deep in his chest.

Noah rubbed her back gently, trying to soothe her even though he was confused beyond belief. He, for the life of himself, couldn't understand what was happening to their son. He wasn't the healthiest child - PJ had gone through a few medical emergencies in his short life span, but what child hadn't? Even with the small runs to the ER for a raisin stuck up his nose or a brutal cough that wouldn't go away. Noah never saw anything bringing him close to death, not at the tender age of five, he was still a baby.

"What did they say?" Noah asked softly as he lifted Chasity's head up by her chin, forcing her to look at him and she shrugged still trying to piece what the babysitter had told her and what the doctors were saying together for herself.

"I don't know." Chasity stressed to him again. "His babysitter said he was running a fever. She doesn't know what happened because he seemed fine when she put him to bed. When she went to check on him an hour or so later she said he was foaming at the mouth." She rushed out, cupping her forehead with her hand as she began to cry once more. "When I got here, the doctors said he had a seizure. They said something about his brain… and this… and that. Things I don't understand." She cried and Noah wrapped her up in his arms again.

"Shh… it's okay. I am going to make sense of this. We need to know what's going on. We are his parents." Noah said to her.

"I'm here." Mercedes exhaled loudly, rushing down the hall as she moved towards her cousin and her baby daddy.

"Mercedes!" Chasity gasped out as she pulled away from Noah moving to grip onto the older girl tightly. "T-thank you." She said and Mercedes hugged Chasity back tightly, her eyes drifting up to Noah as she glared at him, rubbing Chasity's back gently.

"I got you." Mercedes whispered into Chasity's ear, rocking her from left to right gently, her eyes still locked on Noah until she allowed them to flutter shut, letting out a shallow breath. Slowly she pulled away from Chasity, her hands moving to cup her cousin's round face, holding her cheeks as she looked her in the eyes. "What is going on?"

Chasity placed her hands over Mercedes' on her face, blinking slowly, her tears slowly sliding down her face, hitting their hands. "I-I don't know…" She stammered out slightly before she went on to repeat herself, telling Mercedes exactly what she had just told Noah. "I-I just want to see him…" Chasity breathed out, sniffling a little as she bit back a small sob.

Mercedes listened to Chasity and she nodded slowly, taking it all in before she sighed out, trying to remain calm and strong for her cousin, though inside she was panicking just the same. "Okay… We're going to figure it out. Alright Chaz."

Chasity nodded her head, gazing at Mercedes with sad eyes until Mercedes pulled away from her all together.

Walking over to Noah, Mercedes placed her hand on his arm, pulling him off to the side. "Do you know anything else?" She asked him softly, looking up at him through her eyelashes. She couldn't stand him for various different reasons. Most of the time, even the sight of him made her sick, but at this moment none of that mattered.

Noah looked at Mercedes, scrubbing his hand down her face. "I got the same call you did." He told her with a small huff, puffing his chest out a little. "I don't know any more than you do right now…"

Mercedes dropped her head, sighing deeply before she looked back over her shoulder at Chasity, who was sitting back down, bouncing her leg once more. Closing her eyes, Mercedes thought to herself for a moment before she removed her hand from Noah's arm. "I'm going to go see if I can get someone to talk to us… Stay with her." She told him before she walked off in search of answers.


End file.
